Guns and dogs seized in cop raids

EIGHT XL bully dogs and more than 600 weapons including guns, nunchucks and knuckledusters have been seized in a week of police raids on county lines drug gangs.

A total of 1,874 suspects were arrested across the country in the week ending March 10, with 245 drug dealing phone lines closed down.

Another 1,653 people who were being exploited by the gangs, with just over half of them children, have been brought to safety.

Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, head of the county lines coordination centre, told the PA news agency that police had now shut an estimated 5,000 drugs lines since 2019, but he believed there to still be at least 4,000 remaining.

“In April 2022, we had a commitment to close 2,000 lines, which we exceeded in half the time. And so we’ve made a new commitment to close another 1,000 lines by August and seizing 245 last week is another key step towards that new ambition,” Mr Mitchell said.

“So we think there could still be upwards of 4,000, but what we have seen since 2019, since we’ve done all this activity over the last few years, we’ve seen a reduction in the number of county lines that emanate from the big cities of Liverpool, London, Manchester and Birmingham – so those four big exporter areas.

“We’re seeing fewer lines coming out of these areas now which is really positive, and we’re also seeing less children coming to notice and being involved on those lines.”

Every police force across the UK joined in with and contributed to the week of raids.

Mr Mitchell said he was concerned at the increased number of bladed weapons seized compared to the last intensification week in 2023, and highlighted a strong link between knife crime and county lines gangs.

Officers seized class A and B drugs, including crack, heroin, cocaine and cannabis, worth more than £2.5 million.